Boom time rats: Recycle or risk being overrun by a rising rat population

It’s not just the Chinese Year of the Rat.

It’s not just the Chinese Year of the Rat. Britain now has more of the pests than people – and we’ll be overrun unless we cut down on food waste.

Experts blame councils axing weekly bin collections, mild winters and last year’s floods for infestations rising by almost a fifth.

In the worst-affected city of York, the rat problem is up 208 per cent.

But most local authorities are also struggling to cope with record pest control call-outs.

Rentokil estimates there are 65 to 80mill-ion rats in Britain against around 60 million humans. And National Pest Technicians Association director Peter Crowden warned: “In 30 years I’ve never known such a big rat population – and there will be an epidemic if people don’t reduce food waste.